I say that because Butler and Moorgard had a role redundancy, similar to Terry Michaels/Dave Georgeson. It was the right call keeping Terry over Dave. It's the wrong call to keep Jeff over Steve.
SOE Becomes Daybreak / Russian shutdown
- Thread starter Laerazi_sl
- Start date
Jovec
?
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SoE wasn't bought because the new owners want to compete for monthly sub money on games with 3-5 year dev cycles and $25, $50, or $100+ million development budgets. It was to either buy cheap, trim fat, increase value, and quickly sell it again for profit, or push them into a new market (mobile, in-app purchases).
I, for one, am not gloating. From experience, being let go out of the blue is fucking devastating. And you can forget about your self-esteem, you have to build that shit up from the ground up again.
Steve Klug, head programmer on Landmark/EQN (and former rocket scientist) is IN.
Steven Klug @StevenKlug
To those asking. I'm still here. We lost some great people today. Many friends. Please give them your care and support if you are able!
That's a very good sign for EQN.
Steven Klug @StevenKlug
To those asking. I'm still here. We lost some great people today. Many friends. Please give them your care and support if you are able!
That's a very good sign for EQN.
Utnayan
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They both suck ass. At this point the right call would be to shit-can the entire project due to all of them being involved.
Whidon
Blackwing Lair Raider
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I don't get the whole "trash everything and go mobile" line of thinking. If they wanted a mobile studio it would make sense to purchase a studio with actual experience in mobile gaming right?
They must have seen some value in SOE somewhere (not the employees i guess). My guess is they stick to the MMO business.
They must have seen some value in SOE somewhere (not the employees i guess). My guess is they stick to the MMO business.
kaid
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And to be brutally honest with the gradual downsizing SOE had with sony over the year they were super top heavy and as painful as it is and as much as I respect and like the people who got let go it likely was the right call it was a case of to many chiefs not enough indians. Sounds like they got some healthy severance packages so they should have some breathing room to find a new path.
Utnayan
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Not if they want to take the EQ franchise into the mobile market and not give two shits about most of the hacks in management working at this place. (Or anyone good or bad for that matter)
My guess is they will keep the skeleton crews on board, finish both H1Z1 and Console PS2, shit can everyone after launch, and start development of EQ/PS mobile game spinoffs with microtransactions to death and back. Strictly an IP acquisition with a vertical market switch on the horizon.
Muligan
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Matt Higby (creative director/soul of PS2) is IN
Matthew Higby @mhigby ? 2h 2 hours ago
Big round of layoffs this morning. Losing a lot of talented, hard working, irreplaceable people. Very sad day.
Katherine Anderson, programmer on PS2 is OUT:
@katharinelilly
2015-02-11 21:06:50 UTC
I probably won't be using this much anymore, I'm no longer the PS2 build master. It's been fun.
For those following, the big names still out who we're waiting to hear on:
Darren McPherson (Lead Gameplay Design, EQN/Landmark)
Michael Mann (Combat and Progression, EQN/Landmark)
Jeff Butler (Creative Director, EQN/Landmark)
Rosie Rappaport (Art Director, EQN/Landmark)
Greg Henniger/Legion (Community Manager, H1Z1) - likely IN, but not confirmed.
Matthew Higby @mhigby ? 2h 2 hours ago
Big round of layoffs this morning. Losing a lot of talented, hard working, irreplaceable people. Very sad day.
Katherine Anderson, programmer on PS2 is OUT:
@katharinelilly
2015-02-11 21:06:50 UTC
I probably won't be using this much anymore, I'm no longer the PS2 build master. It's been fun.
For those following, the big names still out who we're waiting to hear on:
Darren McPherson (Lead Gameplay Design, EQN/Landmark)
Michael Mann (Combat and Progression, EQN/Landmark)
Jeff Butler (Creative Director, EQN/Landmark)
Rosie Rappaport (Art Director, EQN/Landmark)
Greg Henniger/Legion (Community Manager, H1Z1) - likely IN, but not confirmed.
Utnayan
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Georgeson: "Hi guys! I hope you all tune into my next project! It will be such a fantastic journey and a wild ride and I guarantee you it will be chock full of useless information you won't care about at all, but I will make sure to use some colorful adjectives to keep you all entertained because whatever project I may or may not land, either way, I won't know my head from my asshole when discussing it!"Maybe we can talk Georgeson into stopping by for a "tell all" post.
IF EQ and the franchise were to shutdown man do I have some questions for some of those guys if they would answer.
Teekey
Mr. Poopybutthole
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Hundreds of millions have already been spent on EverQuest Next. Columbus Nova obviously got a deal buying the company, but I can't imagine they just throw that investment to the wayside.
I think you're right, if they wanted to go in a completely different direction - it would have been much cheaper to look to somewhere else.